Hotter than July With Patty Tavatanakit

It was quite a two-week-stretch in July 2019 for rookie pro Patty Tavatanakit: After nearly tying the LPGA all-time scoring record, she earned her first victory as a pro on the Symetra Tour.

After winning the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship, Tavatanakit, a native of Thailand who played her college golf at UCLA, turned pro in May at the age of 19.

And in her first three starts on the Symetra Tour, she finished in the Top 10 all three times. One of those was a runner-up finish at the Prasco Charity Championship. And another was that first win at the Donald Ross Classic in Indiana, a tournament that concluded on July 13.

After the win, Patty tweeted: "When you believe in yourself and have goals, the sky's the limit. ruly unforgettable experience ... this week with my first professional win at the Donald Ross Classic! Thank you to everyone who helped get me here, I'm going to enjoy this."

Tavatanakit opened with a 66, added a 70 in Round 3, then closed with a bogey-free 64 in the final round. She finished at 13-under 200, three strokes better than the runner-up.

But, then, finishing strong is no surprise for this golfer. One week previous, playing as a sponsor exemption in the LPGA's Thornberry Classic (July 3-7), Tavatanakit took a run at a final-round 59.

To date, only one 59 (by Annika Sorenstam) has been recorded on the LPGA. Tavatanakit had a real shot at scoring the second one. In the final round, through 15 holes, Patty had five birdies and three eagles. In fact, all three of those eagles happened on the front nine, on which she shot 29.

She wound up parring out the final three holes to finish with a 61, 20-under for the tournament. She finished tied for 15th.

Meet Golf Channel Host Anna Whiteley

Who is the newest face on the Golf Channel? Anna Whiteley. She officially joined the cast of Morning Drive beginning on June 3, 2019.

On that date, Whiteley began her job as a full-time co-host on the network's daily news show.

Whiteley is British, so the move from London to Orlando is a big step not just professionally but also personally. "I look forward to planting new roots in Florida and hitting the ground running with my Morning Drive colleagues," said Whiteley.

Where have Americans seen Whiteley before? Golfing World videos are popular on YouTube. If you've ever stumbled from golf video to golf video on that site, you might have stumbled across Anna. She was the longtime host of the golf magazine television show, which also aired weekly on Golf Channel and Sky Sports. Whiteley has also appeared on Golf Channel before as a correspondent from the European Tour.

And she's not the first British host of Golfing World to make the jump to the Golf Channel. Three years ago, Cara Banks, then the Golfing World host, left to join Golf Channel's Morning Drive. Now, with Banks moving to hosting duties on the early evening Golf Central newscast, Whiteley replaces Banks once again.

Esther Henseleit an LET Rookie Up-and-Comer

Esther Henseleit, a young German golfer who reached 10th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before turning pro, is now a winner as a pro.

Henseleit, age 20, won the Skafto Open 2019 on the Swedish Golf Tour, an event co-sanctioned by the LET Access Series. Henseleit has been playing on both the Ladies European Tour and the LETAS in 2019. And at the time of this writing, she has a large lead in the rankings for the LET Rookie of the Year Award.

Two weeks after she finished tied for the 30th at the 2019 U.S. Women's Open, Henseleit won by one stroke in Sweden. She opened with a 64 and closed with a 64, with a round of 68 in-between. That's some pretty great scoring! Her final score was 11-under 196 (it was a par-69 golf course).

On the big tour (the LET), Henseleit has eight Top 10 finishes in 10 starts and currently sits third on the money list. She is definitely a strong contender to make the European Solheim Cup team.

Her best LET finishes so far in 2019 include two runner-up showings, first at the Lalla Meryem Cup and then at the La Reserva de Sotogrande. She also has a pair of third-place finishes plus a fourth.

Photos of Jeongeun Lee6, 2019 US Women's Open Champ

Jeongeun Lee6 won the 2019 U.S. Women's Open at the Country Club of Charleston — not just her first major championship win, but her first LPGA Tour win. Lee6 won seven times on the Korean LPGA, however, before joining the U.S. LPGA Tour at the start of the 2019 season.

(Related: Why is there a 6 at the end of Jeongeun Lee6's name?)

Right now she has blonde hair, but most of these photos show her natural black hair.

Lee6 really embraces that "six." You often see the numeral, either written as a number (6) or spelled out (Six), on her clothing (where "6IX" is part of her logo), and always see it on her bag. She marks her ball with a 6. Her nickname is "Lucky 6" and that is also the name of her fan club.

You sometimes see her name spelled "Jeong Eun Lee 6." KLPGA scoreboards often noted her as "JE Lee," and her caddie's bib at the USWO read "J.6.Lee." But you can just call her 6 or Lucky 6.

Swing work with Jeongeun Lee6, who also wants to know if her pants are cute. Yes! https://t.co/l4KjiCS5BO pic.twitter.com/wJUQrG1E6t

— Golf Babes (@golfbabes) April 16, 2019

Annabel Dimmock Wins 2019 Jabra Ladies Open

Annabel Dimmock is finally a winner on the Ladies European Tour and LET Access Series. Dimmock, of England, won the Jabra Ladies Open, a joint LET/LETAS tournament, and in so doing collected not only her first win on those tours but a spot in 2019 Evian Championship.

Two places in the Evian were up for grabs at the Jabra, and French amateur Pauline Roussin Bouchard, the runner-up to Dimmock, gained the second one.

Dimmock turned pro five years ago, but is still only 22 years old. She was one stroke off the lead at the start of the final round, but ended it one stroke in front.

View this post on Instagram

ICY /// @adidasgolf . . Good to be back in Morocco , some awesome new changes to the course 😍👊🏻 @letgolf

A post shared by Annabel Dimmock (@annabeldimmock) on Apr 22, 2019 at 10:27am PDT

Dimmock had four birdies on the front nine of her final round, finishing with a 68. Her final score was 7-under 206.

The victory boosted Dimmock to 14th on the LET's 2019 Order of Merit. Her best previous finish this year was 12th at the Lalla Meryem Cup. Her best previous LET finish as a pro was third at the 2017 Lalla Meryem Cup.

“It’s such a relief. I’ve wanted to do this for so long and I’m so relieved I’ve finally won,” Dimmock said after her Jabra Ladies Open win.

Hot Start to Pro Career for Greta Voelker

Greta Isabella Voelker is having a very good start to her career as a professional golfer in 2019. After winning on an American mini-tour in February, she claimed a win on the LET Access Series in May.

Voelker won the LETAS Neuchatel Ladies Championship 2019, which concluded on May 17 at the Neuchatel Golf & Country Club in Saint Blaise, Switzerland.

Voelker took the lead after a 67 in the second round that turned out to be the lowest score of the tournament on the difficult course. (It was 10 strokes lower than her first-round score.) With a 72 in the final round, she finished at 3-over 216.

But so did Annelie Sjoholm, so they went to a sudden-death playoff. And Greta won it on the first playoff hole.

Back in February, Voelker won the Zellwood Station Tournament at 12-under par, an event on the NWGA mini-tour in the States.

Greta is from Germany and has played a couple previous LETAS stops as an amateur. That includes a 16th-place finish in 2015, when she was 18, at the Hamburg Open.

She trained in the U.S. at the Annika Academy and played college golf for the University of Texas. While with the Longhorns, Voelker was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2017 and was an all-conference selection. She also won the 2018 Dutch Ladies Amateur Championship while still in school.